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The latest Mario Kart World Tour update is here, providing a list of changes and fixes for the Switch 2's signature racer. What's most exciting, however, is right at the top of the list, as there are two new routes you can zoom through in the Knockout Tour.

Nintendo has added two fresh rallies to the mode: Drill Rally and Boomerang Rally. The first takes you from Wario Shipyard through to the ever-present Bowser's Castle, and the second goes from Salty Salty Speedway right up to Whistlestop Summit. So, you're not getting any all-new tracks, but two fresh options to spice up the Knockout Tour experience.

A brief teaser shows the two of them in motion, and I'll always have a soft spot for the aesthetics of Bowser's Castle. All the lava permeating a huge, gothic castle, emblazoned by the master's face over and over? Pure heavy metal, I love it in each and every entry.

"You can select these if you have played one of the rallies in Knockout Tour," says Nintendo's post on the update . Even if you haven't touched this mode all that much, you're not far away from checking out either of these if you so choose.

Characters who have lower acceleration have been given a speed boost, as has the gliding speed of those on the roster who're a little faster on the road, though Nintendo doesn't explicitly say who is included in this wave of buffs. Another distinctly Nintendo addition is stickers in Photo Mode, just to make all your captures that much cuter and prettier. I try to stay away from these modes, because I become a little obsessed with them. Getting good angles is extremely satisfying!

Anyway, there's a plethora of bug fixes, including sorting out an issue where time trials would register the wrong time when you cross the finish line. I can only imagine the annoyance this one caused. The patch is available now.

Be sure to check out what's around the corner with our roundup of new games .

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Credit: Joe Maring / Android Authority

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Android 17 introduces platform-level support that automatically routes over-the-top voice and video call traffic to premium 5G network slices, enabling lag-free calls even in crowded locations.

The OS uses Telecom Jetpack APIs to identify active calls by an app’s UID, eliminating the need for developers to manually build slicing capabilities or handle carrier upsell flows.

However, carriers will need to provide the dedicated 5G network slice for voice and video call traffic, and it may come at a premium.

Google recently rolled out Android 17 to Pixel devices. While the update brings plenty of noteworthy changes, like App Bubbles and Screen Reactions , a network-related upgrade has quietly flown under the radar. Android 17 supports automatic routing of over-the-top (OTT) voice and video calls to premium network connections via 5G network slicing, and that’s big news for your next WhatsApp or Zoom video call over mobile data.

What is 5G network slicing?

5G network slicing is a core network feature that allows carriers to partition, i.e., slice, one 5G network into multiple isolated virtual networks with different characteristics. Thus, instead of treating all internet traffic equally, network slicing enables carriers to allocate different resources to different types of traffic and even to specific customer segments. This opens up carriers and network operators to provide customized lanes for specific use cases, such as ultra-low latency or high bandwidth, on their 5G Standalone (5G SA) networks.

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Game of Thrones kicked off an arms race for fantasy adaptations over the last decade and a half, but in the process it may have hurt the chances of other great books getting the same treatment. Studios rushed to create prestige streaming shows based on other popular book series in the genre, from The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power to The Witcher, The Wheel of Time, and beyond. However, the books that directly inspired George R.R. Martin have not gotten the same treatment yet. Ironically, these stories may be too similar to Game of Thrones and A Song of Ice and Fire . Even if audiences would like to see them on screen, it's easy to imagine that creators and studio executives fear treading territory that feels to familiar after we've already seen Westeros.